And the battle continues . . .

[Kevin]

Some days you just feel like crying.

The battle for Palladium’s survival has gone well. We’ve made good headway and support from fans continues to help through our struggles.

So why feeling like tears? There’s always so much to do. Somehow, despite working insane hours, it still doesn’t “feel” like we’re doing enough.

Today, there’s so much I need do, I don’t know where to start. We’re late on product and constantly adjusting our schedule. I have PU3 to finish reworking. There are 20 X-Mas in July Grab Bags to process (I did five first thing this morning). I’m two weeks behind assigning artwork to artists and I haven’t had time to talk to most of the in months! I’m two days behind on my email. A month behind on getting the tax data my account needs to do our 2005 taxes. I’m behind on answering my Private Messages. (Heck I have PMs that go back to May and June). I haven’t had time be online much these past several weeks and I’m still behind schedule with Powers Unlimited 3 (almost done), Rifts® Sourcebook One Expanded and Revised, Tome Grotesque, Arcanum, Warpath and Hades, among others. I need to get my bio out to Ubercon and contact a dozen different people about a dozen different thing, and help with shipping out Catalogs and get ready for Gen Con! I haven’t had time to talk to many of our freelancers or keep in touch with anyone. We’re all working like dogs and I know we are doing our best, but I still feel like I’m letting people down; friends, investors, freelancers and fans, and it’s a bummer.

I look at the guys – the Palladium staff – and my heart goes out to them. Alex is juggling 10 different things at once and working long hours without complaint. There are days where Wayne looks like something the cat’s dragged in. He and I are making little mistakes and missing deadlines because we're worn out, but we correct what we can and press on. Kathy is unbelievable and works harder than anyone I’ve ever known. She cares so much about you, the fans, and getting orders out quick and correctly that she always tries to be on top of everything. Margaret does what she can to help and has moments when she’s quite the dynamo, but her skills and experience are limited, so she can only do so much. And don’t forget, she’s working for the experience, not payment. She even refuses to take free books. What a gal. Jason Marker has pitched in to lend a helping hand, and so has Dennis Hughes (the Subjugator), Zachary Houghton and the Megaversal Ambassadors, NMI, Jason Richards, Carl Gleba and many, many others. It is welcomed and appreciated. So many people trying to help us whatever way they can. But sometimes it gives me a heavy heart. Does Palladium really deserve such kindness? What if things still don’t work out? What if we . . . what if I disappoint everyone?

The heat wave has turned the Palladium warehouse into an oven. Unless you’re standing directly in the path of a fan it sucks. Yet Hank, Julius and Bill are out there working away without ever complaining. In fact, I haven’t seen my Dad, Hank, happier in months. “We’ll make do. I’m just glad online sales are still so strong. Distributors too.” says Hank. Julius nods in agreement. Bill smiles and says, “Hey, that’s we get paid for, ain’t it?” And it makes me want to cry.

For most of you, Palladium’s battle for survival started April 19, 2006, the day I made the public appeal for help. For us, the battle has been going on for a couple of years now. Being undermined by theft and embezzlement, we were already working feverishly in 2004. When the big revelation came in February 2005, we spent the next 12 months working hard to right the ship and keep things going. By the start of 2006 we realized we couldn’t do it ourselves and turned to you, our friends, for help. You know the rest: incredible response, big sales, new hope.

Thing is, the battle for us at Palladium has waged on for two and half years, and we’re all so very tired.

Please don’t get me wrong, we are NOT giving up. I just want you to know that though be may drop the ball from time to time, we are working hard not to disappoint you and to keep Palladium alive.

New titles aren’t delayed because we’re goofing off, and we’re sorry that certain titles, in particular, seem to keep getting delayed. I’m also sorry we had to raise the price of our books a buck or two, even if they are still a bargain compared to most of our competitors. I wish I can be present online more (‘cuz I do love chatting with you), or answer my Private Messages and email more quickly. I also plan to do that live conversion online sometime after Gen Con. I apologize especially to those of you who fall through the cracks, get accidentally missed, or have to wait forever for a response.

All things considered, I think we’re all doing pretty darn good, but we’re far from perfect, probably disappointing some of you, and far from climbing out of the hole.

As for the future?

We continue to fight the good fight. This is a battle we want. No matter how tired we are, or frustrated we may get, we’re in this for the long haul!
We have every intension to get Palaldium back on its feet and be producing RPGs and books for years to come!

Running a Marathon. This effort is like running a marathon, it's going to take a while and at some points it will feel like a grind. And for us, it feels like running a marathon race a few days after just having finished one. This race has just started. We’re only about a quarter of the way through, there's a long way to go, but we're on a winning pace!!!!

The big advantage Palladium has, is that we are running this marathon surrounded by you – our friends – giving us encouragement every step of the way, handing us a cup of water when we need it and catching us when we stumble. I want you to know how much this means to us and to ask you to keep the faith. We're gonna give this race eveything we have.

Besides, there are things that might happen along the way that could catapult Palladium to new heights. If Jerry Bruckheimer should actually ever make that darn Rifts® movie . . . wow, not only would that be awesome, but it should lead to plenty of other money making licensing opportunities. Historically, however, only one out of every 10,000 I.P.s optioned ever gets made into a movie. Heck, look at how long it took for Peter Jackson to make the Lord of the Rings trilogy and his King Kong movie. Just cross your fingers and hope for the best with Rifts.

A computer vidoegame or MMOG deal by an established company could be huge too, although the big money wouldn’t come in till the game was made and released, and good quality games take 3-4 years to develop. Don’t forget, Palladium has other titles that would make great games too, so maybe something might pop up from that arena?

Significant sales in the book chain stores (Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books a Million, etc.) could make a big difference too, but progress is slow on that front too. For one, it seems many of these store chains only want to carry hardcover books and virtually all of Palladium’s products are soft-cover. (And making HC costs twice as much).

Btw, you guys and gals can help on all of these fronts by writing letters and sending e-mails to any or all of these companies and telling them you’d love to see a Rifts® (or whatever from Palladium) as a movie, videogame, available in bookstores, etc. You’d be surprised at how much impact even a couple dozen letters/emails can have.

Meanwhile, I’m working on products and plans that will keep Palladium Books going without an influx of cash from a movie, videogame or outside person. You can never count on a third party license, so we have to be able to stand on our own. To that end, we have a ton of great books for Rifts, Heroes Unlimited, and Palladium Fantasy all in the works. Many by freelancers trying to help as best they can! The Robotech license is looking good and could be a big seller for us. Robotech was big for Palladium in the past and could be big for us again. We’ve got a feeling that Warpath: Urban Jungle could be a hot property too. And we’re working on a bunch of other things too, from business deals to dynamic new products and licenses of our games.

Unfortunately, it all takes time and money. Two commodities that are in rather short supply these days. In fact, the only thing we’re not short of is ideas that would knock your socks off. We have a million of them.

I take comfort from the fact that even though it seems like a long time ago, we only made our appeal for help 3 ½ months ago! That’s practically no time at all in the business world, and we have already made huge inroads . . .
$150,000+ worth of debt paid!
Getting caught up on money owed to freelancers.
Getting current on our monthly bills.
1736 prints of A Megaverse United sold!
7 reprint titles back in print.
2 new books back from the printer and one (PU3) about to go in.
Palladium's Summer Catalog is back from the printer and 14,000 copies are being prepped for bulk mailing.
Working to acquire the Robotech license and securing other deals.
Hoping Rifter #35 puts a smile on your faces.
Hoping Gen Con sales will be big even with a new, big release.

It will take time and more hard work, but I’m hoping by this time next year Palladium will be rockin’ an’ rollin’ like never before.

Thank you for sticking with us this far. Continue to spread the word. Continue to game and enjoy your RPG pastime and keep the faith. We may shed a few tears (sometimes out of frustration or exhaustion, other times out of joy or appreciation), but we are working hard for you and the future.

Sincerely,
Kevin Siembieda
President, writer, artist and tired guy prone to emotional outbursts